A Moschino store in West Hollywood has been sued for referring to their black staff and clients as 'Serena'... well at least those who don't look well off enough to afford the luxury Italian label.

Complex reports that Shamael Lataillade - a black Haitian-American woman - told TMZ how her employers "would call them a ‘Serena’ and instructed other employees to follow and watch [black clients] closely, sometimes even writing down their license plates.”

As a result, this former employee of the store finally mustered the courage to file a lawsuit against Moschino for racial discrimination not only against clients, but against her personally too. According to TMZ, Shamael was "discriminated against and mocked as someone who practices voodoo" by her supervisor. She was subsequently fired for sounding the alarm on racism in the store as well as the Serena slur.

The sad reality is that this is not just a Moschino problem - it's a retail problem - and black fashion consumers bear the burden of racial profiling whenever they decide to colour outside the lines of what is deemed appropriate for their assumed tax bracket. This is an example of how the black customer's access to luxury and the like is only theoretical, despite South Africa's emerging black middle class.

Of course, this growing black middle class is hardly an achievement to shout on suburban rooftops about - it's simply worth the acknowledgement that black people who can afford to do more than merely survive are no longer an anomaly and should therefore not be treated as such.

Are we only good enough for our money, but not decent service?

However, whenever we enter a clothing boutique or high-end store, we immediately become suspects of criminal activity. A shop assistant is prompted to meander between the rails a few steps behind us as we browse, adjusting hangers we've touched almost as if to confirm that the items are still really there.

Ask any black shopper, they'll tell you they've been a 'Serena'. Ask any black retail staff member too - they're racially profiled from all angles.

I can think of many a high-end boutiques where the black store assistants' role is to tend to black customers, while white staff hobnob with their 'real' customers.

I remember one time in particular when I bought a pair of shoes at a popular boutique and at the counter, the owner left the box and paper bag for me to pack it myself as soon as my payment was approved. Are we only good enough for our money, but not decent service?

This was an example of one of the not-so-subtle ways in which racial stereotypes are enforced while shopping. It also plays out on the other end of the spectrum, where we enter a store and are offered no assistance, while a white customer who enters minutes after you, is given five-star treatment.

Two black fashion enthusiasts I spoke to can also attest to the phenomenon of racial profiling at clothing stores:

Personally, I avoid going into boutiques and stores in general because of how uneasy store assistants and clerks make me feel, unless I know exactly what I want. I find going into boutiques particularly daunting when I’m not dressed up, reason being, store assistants tend to look at you accusingly, follow you around and keep a close eye on you because they assume based on your race and the way you’re dressed, you won’t be able to afford the items the store/boutique has to offer. - *Lerato

Each time I walk into a store, especially a clothing shop or boutique, I’ve almost always had a shop assistant watch or follow me until I leave the store. Some shop assistants will ask if they can assist me with something, but most of the time they just lurk around or mysteriously find something to pack near me. When I started noticing this I thought maybe it was because I was a student (carrying a school bag), but this still happens to me years after I’ve left school. I remember when I used to work in a retail store during my varsity days, my then manager used to identify people we sales assistants should keep an eye on. Needless to say, those people were always black people who didn’t look wealthy. - *Noxolo

Incidents such as the above go beyond boutiques - restaurants and holiday accommodation are quite notorious for restricting access to black people.

The only difference is that while places of dining and slumbering are able to deny you over the phone, retail stores' implicit limited access can mostly only be implemented once you've popped by.

*Names have been changed.

What's your experience of being a 'Serena'? And has it discouraged you from shopping at places you actually like? Tell us here.

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